Death Wand
by Mariel McLeod
Summary: Edmund Pevencie. some people think he's a traitor. other's would like to get into his head. here's the chance. this is my companion peice for Shattering the Ice from Edmund's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

Narnian fanfic

Narnian fanfic

Death Wand

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

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Chapter 1

My name is of no importance to anyone who might be reading this, though it is likely enough to be found out before long. I wish with all my heart that my confession would remain anonymous, but since that is impossible while it is still a confession, I shall proceed and let my noble readers guess the name which I long so much to hide. My story starts in London, England, but that is not where I write from now. Today, my noble reader will observe from the date on this scroll, is March the 15th, in the year of the Red Lion. Only 5 years after the Great War and the breaking of winter over Narnia. I write from the cliffs that border our great castle, Cair Paravel. As I watch the waves of the eastern ocean crash upon the sand, I remember the crash of the bombs that fell on our home in London. Sometimes at night, when I am asleep, the sound of the waves upon the sea shore takes me back to that terrible night, the night before we left our home for the last time…

I stood at the window, watching the flash of fire as bombs dropped in the street near our house. The noise was deafening, but still I watched, thinking how wonderful it would be to fly and fight; having complete control over the lives of people I didn't even know. Never thinking that I my self might be killed by the guns from below. Oh I dreamed of the glory of battle then, well have I learned my lesson since those days.

I was alone in the room with the curtains pulled back to allow a better view of the bombs as the dropped out of the midnight sky. Searchlights lit-up the dark night and sirens sounded, warning the people of London to run for their bomb shelters. Suddenly, my mother was running to me.

"What do you think you're doing?" she pulled me from the window sill, closed the curtains and out of the room while shouting for my older brother, Peter.

"Get the girls and get to the shelter, NOW!" she gave me a shove and sent me on my way. I ran past Susan and Lucy who were grabbing torch and teddy bear, and ran out the door with Peter on my heels. Mother, Susan and Lucy were already in the shelter when I remembered.

"Wait! Dad!"

I turned and ran back into the house with mother shouting after me. The house shook with the impact of a bomb in the street right out side our house, but I made it up the stairs and into the living room where I had been watching the bombing only moments before.

There it was. On a small table beside the sofa was the picture. My father, a captain in the British army, had sent us that picture only a month before. It was the only picture we had of him in his army uniform and there was no way I was about to loose it.

I grabbed the picture just as the window exploded. I felt Peter fall on top of me. As soon as the glass stopped falling on us, Peter grabbed me and I just managed to grab the photo as he pushed me roughly out the door. Together we ran to the shelter and he pushed me inside. I landed beside mother as Peter stood staring at me from the door of the shelter.

"You are so selfish! You could have got us killed!"

I gave him a hard look as I held the now broken photo of my father. Peter continued to stare as my mother gathered me into her arms.

"Why can't you just do as you're told?"

He stared for a moment longer then shut the door and the room went pitch black. I crept into my bunk and lay still facing the wall. The black night closed in around me as I fought to keep the tears back. I would NOT cry over something so small. So what if my brother had no respect for me? Someday I would be bigger than him and then I would show him. Oh yes, I would show him! He was not my father. He could play father until my REAL father came home from the war. Then, THEN, he'd learn.

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I stood on the train platform with my mother, a dark haired woman about 40, Peter, a golden haired brat (well I thought he was a brat) of 15, Susan, a dark haired 'mother wanna be' of 14 and my youngest sister Lucy who at the age of 9 always told the truth, which often got me into trouble. My mother was pinning our identification on us so we would not loose it. We were being sent away to the country, away from the bombing. Stupid grownups, don't they know we can take care of ourselves? But I did not say this, I thought of something better to say that might not get me a tongue lashing from mum.

"If dad were here he wouldn't make us go."

Smart mouth Peter beat mum to the response. "If dad were here it would mean the war was over and we wouldn't have to go!"

"You will listen to your brother wont you?" If mum expected me to go down on my knees and beg forgiveness and swear to be the best 12 year old boy that ever lived and to kiss the ground that Peter walked on while we were gone, she was sorely disappointed. I didn't even nod. She sighed and tried to pull me into a hug. I pushed away. She sighed and tried to kiss me, I pushed away again. I knew they all hated me, why should I treat them with anything less? She gave up and turned to Peter.

"Take care of the others." She said as she hugged him. such emotional things grownups and girls were, it was truly disgusting. Peter was worse than any girl sometimes.

"I will mum." He said as he actually hugged her back.

"Good man." Mum said and turned to Susan. I grimaced. Man? She called him a man? He was 15 for goodness sake! And there was certainly nothing good about that silly little emotional snot nosed brat of a big brother. Right then I prayed that I would never be like him when I was older. Mum finished hugging Susan and Lucy who were crying their eyes out by now, and sent us off.

Susan led the way toward the train with me following and Peter holding Lucy's hand behind me. Peter looked completely dazed as we stopped and a woman in a uniform asked us for our tickets. Susan finally grabbed the tickets from peter and handed them to the woman. She only glanced at them before waving us on. Susan acted like she had all the experience in the world and tried to make me do everything she said so 'I wouldn't get hurt TRYING to get on the train'. I was finally able to shake myself loose and squirmed my way through the crowd toward the train. Of course I knew how to get on a train by my self!

I looked back and saw that Peter and Lucy had stopped. I saw tears rolling down Lucy's cheeks and Peter bending over to comfort her. He looked so much like a mother hen I almost laughed. When we finally got on the train, Susan, Peter, Lucy and I squeezed our heads out of the window to wave goodbye. I only waved once then pulled back and watched as my pathetic siblings waved until mum and the station were out of sight. Finally, Peter led the way to the compartment. He put Lucy's trunk up on the rack above us and reached for mine, but I pulled away and put it up on the rack myself. Good grief! Does he think that I can't do ANYTHING my self?

The rest of the trip was boring. Absolutely nothing exciting happened. Lucy played with her little stuffed dog for a while then tried to hand it to me. I reluctantly took it then handed it to the little boy sitting across from me. Lucy looked disappointed but she smiled at the little boy as if to say 'just keep it'.

Finally, we reached our destination. The train pulled to a stop and the whistle blew. We filed off the train and stood until it had passed. When we heard the sound of a car a few moments later, we ran down to see if it was our ride. Obviously, the gent driving wasn't our ride since all he did was honk at us and keep driving. I sighed and looked at my tag as Susan, as always, stated the obvious.

"The Professor knew we were coming."

I decided to state the lesser known thought.

"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled."

But perhaps it was the first time I had ever been wrong because no sooner were the words out of my mouth than we here the crack of a whip and the clip clop of hooves, and around the corner came a white horse pulling a wooden cart. In the cart sat a middle aged lady, around the same age as mum. Her hair was in a tight bun at the nape of her neck and she wore a maroon hat. She sat very primly on the cart as if she was the queen of the world and her simple cart was a golden chariot drawn by four snow white horses. She eyed us closely and finally, Peter spoke up.

"Mrs. McCready?"

"Aye" She said with a nod of her head. "Is this it then? Didn't ye bring anything else?"

"No marm," Peter said. "It's just us."

"Small favors." She said and motioned us to hop in.

That night, we gathered in Lucy and Susan's room to listen to the radio. When the announcer started talking about German aircraft and the bombings, Susan turned it off. Lucy the little whiner started moaning about scratchy sheets. Susan came over to her bed where Peter was sitting.

"Wars don't last forever, Lucy. We'll be home soon."

"Yeah, if' home's still there." I saw no point in Susan trying to play miss prissy optimist.

Susan moaned.

"Isn't it time you were in bed?"

"Yes Mum!" I retorted to her motherly mimic.

"Ed!" Peter growled at me. He turned to Lucy, who was obviously scared since she didn't understand everything… as usual. "You saw outside. This place is huge! We can do whatever we want here. Tomorrow's going to be great… Really."

I sighed at his pointless optimistic approach to the worst thing that could ever happen: rain.

The next morning, the rain pounded down until the roof shook. Susan was trying to get Peter to play a pointless game where she read out these ridiculously long words from the dictionary and Peter tried to guess what they meant. Lucy stared out a window while I carved my name on the bottom of one of the chairs. At least I was leaving a mark on history! I groaned as Susan read out another word.

"Gas-tro-ves-cu-lar… come on, Peter: Gastrovascular."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Is it Latin?"

"Yes."

I came out from under the chair. "Is it Latin for 'worst game ever invented'?"

Susan shut the book with a bang. Lucy walked over to Peter.

"We could play hide and seek."

Peter rolled his eyes again. "But we're already having so much fun."

"Oh come on Peter, please!" Lucy begged. "Pretty please?"

Peter smiled and started counting. Lucy grinned and ran for a place to hide.

"What?" I complained, but I did hide. Unfortunately for Lucy, she picked my hiding place. I shoved her out of the way and sent her to find her own.

Only a few moments later, she came running back shouting!

"I'm back! I'm back! it's alright!"

I leaned out of my hiding place. "Shh! He's coming!" but it was too late. Peter found us.

"You know, I'm not sure if you two have quite gotten the idea of this game." He was treating me like a child again.

"Weren't you wondering where I was?" Lucy asked, confused.

I sighed and explained. "That's the POINT! That's why he was seeking you!"

Susan ran up behind us.

"Does this mean I win?"

Peter turned and looked at her.

"I don't think Lucy wants to play any more."

Lucy still looked confused.

"I've been gone for, hours."

She led us back to this huge wardrobe in the spare room where she told us this fantastic lie about a wood in the back of the wardrobe and a place called Narnia and a faun named Tumnus and two other humans about the age of 16 named Justin and Mariel. It was completely unbelievable, but she had never lied before so we decided we had to at least have a look. Susan felt the wood on the back of the wardrobe and I looked all the way around the out side. Nothing.

"Lucy, the only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe." Susan tried to sound like she knew everything… as usual.

"One game at a time, Lu." Peter added. "We don't all have your imagination."

We started to walk toward the door, but Lucy yelled after us.

"But I wasn't imagining!"

Susan spun around. "That's enough Lucy!"

"I wouldn't lie about this!" Lucy continued.

"Well I believe you!" I said out of the blue. Everyone turn and looked at me. Lucy gapped.

"You do?"

"Of course. Didn't I tell you about the football field I found in the bathroom cupboard?" I said with a smirk. Peter didn't think it was funny though.

"Oh, will you just stop? You always have to make everything worse, don't you?"

"It was just a joke!" I protested.

"When are you going to learn to grow up?" He asked. I fumed.

"Shut up! You think you're dad, but you're not!" I ran out of the room and hid under my bed. Why couldn't my family understand me? Just for once in my life I wanted to feel appreciated! But it was purposeless to even hope for something like that out of my family. they were worse than the Germans sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

Only a few days later, I was returning from using the bathroom at around midnight when I saw a candle flame and a pink robe disappear around the corner. I knew it could only be Lucy and so I followed to see if I could tease her about anything else. She had been coming up with the strangest ideas lately.

"Lucy" I walked across the room toward the wardrobe, my slippers making no noise on the wood floor. I reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open with a jerk.

"BOO!"

But she wasn't there. I looked around to see if she had stepped behind the wardrobe to fool me, but no. she wasn't there. I carefully stepped into the wardrobe, calling her name. closing the door behind me, I went further back into the wardrobe. It certainly didn't seem this big from the outside. I reached out with my hands but I could not feel the back. I walked on, brushing by the fur coats that were in my way. Suddenly, I felt something prickly against my hand. I pulled it down to look in the dim light, and saw that it was a tree branch! But how was there a tree branch in the wardrobe? And where was the light coming from? I took another step and I heard a crunch! Snow. I took another step and tripped over something, falling flat on my back in another world.

It was snowing. There were evergreens all around and the sky above me was filled with snow clouds. I got up and looked around. Lucy had not lied. I started calling for her again, but she was no where in sight.

"Lucy! I think I believe you now!"

I walked past a lamp post and thought it odd that a lamp post would be out in the middle of no where. Gradually, I found that I was following a snow covered path, wide enough for at least 3 horses to walk. No sooner had I discovered this than I heard a sound that almost made my heart stop.

Bells.

I looked toward the sound and saw something white moving along the path.

"Lucy?" I asked.

Suddenly, four white reindeer bounded out of the white, pulling a white sleigh. They bowled me over and I lay motionless as they stopped. My eyes grew wide in terror as a dwarf with a beard as long as I was tall jumped out of the sleigh with a bull whip in his hand and started running toward me. Barely able to think, I managed to scramble up and run for my life.

The dwarf swung his whip at me and it wrapped around my legs, pulling me down. I rolled on my back right before the dwarf jumped on me. He pulled a knife out and held it to my throat.

I heard a voice from the sleigh.

"What is it now, Ginarrbrik?"

With my only hope of survival in that voice, I called out.

"Make him let me go!"

The dwarf pressed the knife harder. "How dare you address the queen of Narnia!"

"I didn't know!" I protested.

He raised the knife above his head to strike. "You shall know her better hereafter!"

"Wait!"

The knife lowered and the dwarf and I looked up to see the most beautiful lady I had ever seen standing in the snow. Her hair was blond. Her dress was white like snowflakes. On her head was a crown of ice. In her hand, was a crystal wand. She stood regally like a queen and I realized as I stood that she was a queen. The queen of Narnia. Her voice was like silk.

"What is your name, Son of Adam?"

I gave my name.

"And how did you come to enter my dominion?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I was just following my sister and…"

She cut me off. "Sister? How many are you?"

"4. Lucy's the only one who's been here before. She said she met a faun called… Tumnus. Peter and Susan didn't believe her. I didn't either."

Again she cut me off. "You look so cold. will you come and sit with me?"

I nodded and followed her to her sleigh. It WAS cold out, considering it was snowing and all. She sat me down next to her on her sleigh and wrapped furs around me.

"Now, how about something hot to drink?"

I nodded eagerly. "Yes please… Your Majesty."

She nodded and pulled out a metal vial. She flipped it open and a small green drop landed on the snow. I watched in amazement as the snow started to take shape. When it was finished, it formed a perfect metal cup. Ginarrbrik bowed and handed me the steaming cup.

"Your drink, sire."

"How did you do that?" it was the best tasting chocolate milk I have ever tasted in my life!

The queen smiled. "I can make anything you like."

I sipped again. "Can you make me taller?"

The queen laughed. "Anything you'd like to eat."

I looked up hopefully. "Turkish Delight?"

Again, the little metal vial came out and another green drop landed on the snow. This time, a metal box of the same make as the cup appeared. The queen took my drink from me as the dwarf handed me the box. I opened it and to my pure and utter joy, there in the box were several big pieces of Turkish Delight. My favorite!

As I was eating, the queen suddenly spoke.

"I would very much like to meet your family."

I looked up from my delicious snack. "Why? They're nothing special."

The queen pulled off the dwarf's red hat and wiped the powdered sugar off my mouth.

"Of I'm sure they're not nearly as delightful as you are. But you see, I have no children of my own. And you are exactly the sort of boy who I could see one day becoming Prince of Narnia… maybe even King?"

I looked up at this. "Really?"

"Of course you'd have to bring your family."

I sighed. "Oh, you mean, Peter would be king too?"

The queen laughed and shook her head at the same time. "Oh no! No! But a king needs servants."

The suggestion brightened my mood considerably. "I guess I could bring them."

She took the box of candy off my lap and turned my head so I was facing two small hills.

"Beyond these woods, you seed those two little hills? My house is right between them." She gave me a nudge to get off the sleigh. "You'd love it there. It has whole rooms simply stuffed with Turkish Delight."

I stepped off the sleigh. "Couldn't I have some more now?"

For the first time, she shouted at me. "No!" then her voice went back to a whisper. "Don't' want to ruin your appetite. Besides, you and I are going to be seeing each other again very soon, aren't we?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "I hope so… Your Majesty."

She smiled at me. "Until then… dear one. Oh I'm going to miss you!"

The dwarf cracked the whip and the sleigh took off into the whiteness, leaving me staring after it. No sooner had it gone than Lucy came running up to me. And to my surprise, a boy about 16 came from the other side. Lucy gave me a huge hug which I finally was able to push out of.

"You got in too! Isn't it wonderful?" Lucy squealed as she hugged me.

"Where have you been? And who is this?" I asked.

"This is Justin, my friend. His twin sister Mariel is at Mr. Tumnus's house. That's where I've been. He's fine! The White Witch hasn't found out anything about my meeting him!"

I eyed Justin. "The White Witch?"

For the first time, Justin spoke. He was a tall boy with dark red hair that looked almost brown. It was that shade between brown and red that some call strawberry blond. But depending on what light they're standing in, it becomes brown or red. He had a low voice as if he was almost ready to growl. I was sure that he didn't like me very much and I could tell that he didn't normally sound that way. His eyes were bright blue, and from the way they sparkled, I could tell that he knew much more than he was going to say. There was a depth to those eyes that frightened me, a coldness. "She calls herself the queen of Narnia, but she really isn't."

My heart quickened. The queen of Narnia? The lady I had just met was a witch?! No, it could not be true. She had been extremely nice to me. Besides, all this about a witch was just second hand from a faun that they barely knew. Why should I believe them?

Lucy looked at my worried glance. "Are you alright? You look awful."

"Well what do you expect?" I asked. "It's freezing! How do we get out of here?"

Lucy took my hand and led me away. "Come on. This way. Good bye Justin!"

"Bye Lucy!" Justin called back. I watched him over my shoulder as he ran back the other direction until I almost hit a tree. Lucy pulled me out of the way just in time. We made it back through the wardrobe and before I could stop her, Lucy was in my room on Peter's bed, telling him the whole story!

"Peter! Peter wake up! It's there! it's really there!"

Peter rolled over and yawned as I sat on the edge of my bed. "Lucy what are you talking about?" He asked.

Lucy continued to try to drag him out from under his covers. "Narnia! It's all in the wardrobe like I told you!"

Susan came in, tying her robe. "You've just been dreaming Lucy."

Lucy shook her head. "But I haven't! I've seen Mr. Tumnus again! And this time, he went too!" She pointed at me.

The others stared at me. Peter shook his head in disbelief. "You saw the faun?"

I shook my head.

Lucy rewound and tried to explain what had happened. "Well, he didn't actually go there with me… he was… what were you doing?"

I shook my head again. "I- I was just playing along. I'm sorry Peter. I shouldn't have encouraged her. But you know what little children are like. They just don't know when to stop pretending." I gave Lucy a smug look. She couldn't get out of this one. Besides, I wasn't so sure that we hadn't pretended it all. it was so much like a dream, I almost believed that it had been a dream.

Lucy's face scrunched up and she began to cry. She ran out of the room with Susan on her heals. Peter sighed in frustration and jumped out of bed, pushing me back onto my bed as he ran out the door. I stayed there, not caring what was going on. I was asleep by the time Peter came back into the bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

The next few days were utter misery, except that the sun came out and the rain stopped. About a week later, we were out side playing cricket, Peter, the brilliant Peter, pitched perfectly for me and I smashed the ball through the window of the professor's house! We all stood in shock for a moment and then we ran into the house to see the damage. I had broken a window, a very expensive stained glass window no less, and knocked over a suit of armor. Oh was I going to get it if the Macready found me. Suddenly we heard footsteps.

"What on earth is going on up there?"

Susan yelped. "The Macready!"

We took off. But wherever we ran there always seemed to be footsteps behind us. Finally there was no where else to go but the spare room. The room that held the wardrobe. I dashed to it and threw the door open. Susan gave me a disbelieving look.

"You've got to be joking."

Suddenly we heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Go!" Peter shouted and shoved Lucy and Susan toward the wardrobe. I was already in. Peter shoved the door open so of course the Macready would know exactly where we had gone and then proceeded to push the rest of us toward the back. After getting my toes stepped on a million times, we finally reached the back… but it wasn't the back of the wardrobe! Susan and Peter fell out and sat down hard in… snow? Was it possible? I hadn't dreamed it after all? Susan stood up and looked around.

"Impossible!"

Lucy smiled as she stepped out. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's just your imagination."

Peter stopped gawking and turned to her. "I don't suppose saying 'we're sorry' would quite cover it?"

Lucy gave her impish smile. "No, it wouldn't…" she threw a snowball and caught Peter straight in the face! "but that might!"

While the others rejoiced in their snowball fight, I turned and saw the two hills. That hadn't been a dream either! Suddenly I was almost knocked flat by a snowball.

"Ow! Stop it!"

Everyone stopped and looked at me. Peter glared in disbelief.

"You little liar!"

"You didn't believe her either!" I tried to defend my self, but Peter persisted.

"Apologize to Lucy." I just stared at him. "Say you're sorry!"

I winced as he took a step forward, bully that he was. "Alright, alright! I'm sorry!"

Lucy gave me a smug look. "That's alright. Some little children just don't know when to stop pretending.

"Very funny."

Susan, the always thinking grown-up decided that she had already had enough of this frozen land. "Maybe we should go back."

I had other ideas. I was still thinking about that Turkish Delight I had been promised. "Shouldn't we at least take a look around?"

Peter smiled at Lucy. "I think Lucy should decide!"

Lucy gasped with delight. "I'd like you all to meet Mr. Tumnus, Justin and Mariel!"

Peter Smiled again. "Well then Mr. Tumnus, Justin and Mariel it is!"

I sighed. I did not much like the thought of meeting the cold eyed teen again. But the other's didn't seem interested in my opinion. Susan at least had to point out the one flaw in the plan.

"But we can't go hiking in the snow, dressed like this!"

Peter reappeared from the wardrobe with several fur coats over his arm. "No… but I'm sure the professor wouldn't mind us using these." He handed Lucy a coat and looked at Susan. "Anyway, if you think about it "logically," we're not even taking them out of the wardrobe." I knew this was a jibe at Susan and I didn't really care until he handed me my coat. I protested loudly.

"But that's a girl's coat!"

Peter gave me a blank look. "I know."

We passed the lamp post, which was still lit, and followed Lucy through the woods to Tumnus's house. When we reached it, Lucy stopped. She had been telling us about all the wonderful sardines we would be having when she saw the broken door. With a little gasp, she took off with the rest of us behind her.

There was snow all over the floor. All the furniture had been smashed. All the paintings and crockery broken. All the books torn up. I stepped on a picture frame and looked down to see the painting of an elderly faun. I guessed that it was either of Tumnus or his father. Peter noticed a note nailed to a pillar of stone in the center of the house and read it out to us.

"The faun, Tumnus is hereby charged with high treason against her imperial majesty, Jadis, Queen of Narnia. For comforting her enemies and fraternizing with humans. Signed: Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police. Long Live the Queen."

He handed the note to Susan who took one glance at it.

"Alright, now we really should go back."

Lucy objected. "But what about Mr. Tumnus?"

"If he was arrested just for being with a human, I don't think that there's much that we can do!" Susan stated.

Lucy hung her head. "You don't understand, do you? I'm the human! She must have found out he helped me."

I looked away, trying not to be seen. Wishing that I had never even mentioned the name Tumnus to the queen.

Peter said the first thing that came to his mind. "Maybe we could call the police." Stupid Peter.

Susan held up the note. "These are the police."

Peter turned to Lucy and held her by the shoulders. "Don't worry, Lu. We'll think of something."

"Why?" I asked. Everyone looked at me. "I mean, he's a criminal."

Lucy looked accusingly at me, but Susan motioned for silence when she heard a bird outside the door.

"Did that bird just 'psst' us?"

We headed outside for the stupidest reason ever invented! A bird. Just then we heard a twig snap. The girls got close to Peter. I stayed my distance. Just then, a beaver jumped out from behind a snow drift. A beaver! Lucy let go of Peter and stared at it like it had 4 noses or something.

"It's a beaver!"

Peter slowly stuck out his hand and clicked his tongue. "Here boy, here boy."

The beaver stared at the hand for a moment then stood up on it's hind legs. "Well I aint gonna smell it if that's what you want!"

We all jumped and Peter pulled his hand back quickly. It was a talking beaver!

"Sorry."

It turned to my little sister.

"Lucy Pevensie?"

She was almost shocked out of words for a moment, but then she stepped forward and spoke. "Yes?" the beaver simply handed her a handkerchief with her initials on it. "This is the hanky I gave to Mr…"

"Tumnus." The beaver nodded. "He sent it with Justin and Mariel before they took him."

Lucy gasped. "Is he alright?"

The beaver leaned close. "Further in." and began to bound away… quite a strange sight if you ask me.

Peter and Lucy automatically began to follow him. Susan grabbed Peter's arm. "What are you doing??"

I backed her up for once in my life. "She's right! How do we know we can trust him?"

Peter gave the lamest excuse ever. "He said he knows the faun."

Susan shook her head, only half believing that this was actually happening. "He's a beaver! He shouldn't be saying anything!"

The Beaver popped his head over the snow drift. "Is everything alright?"

Peter turned quickly. "Yes. we were just talking."

The beaver looked around him. "That's better left for safer corners."

Lucy explained. "He means the trees."

I looked up. Now that she mentioned it, the trees did look awful scary. But that was silly, trees couldn't talk… that thought stopped myself in my tracks. But beavers couldn't talk either. Why not trees next?

It took the rest of the day to get to the Beaver's dam. When we arrived, I saw smoke coming from the chimney. At least there would be something warm for us when we got there. Mr. Beaver cheered up considerably at this sight.

"Oh, blimey! Looks like the old girl's got the kettle on. Nice cup of rosy-lee!"

Lucy smiled. "It's lovely!"

Mr. Beaver blushed. "Oh, it's merely a trifle. Still got plenty of work to do. Aint quite finished it yet. It'll look the business when it's done."

I groaned. Talking animals, what's next?

As we approached the dam, a feminine voice came from inside and out came another beaver. "Beaver? Is that you? I've been worried sick! If I find you've been out with Badger again…" she caught sight of us. "Oh, those aren't Badgers!" she clasp her paws together in delight. "Oh I never thought I'd live to see this day!" she suddenly became self conscious and turned to Mr. Beaver. "Look at my fur! You couldn't give me ten minutes warning?!"

Mr. Beaver chuckled. "I'd give you a week if I thought it would've helped."

My simple siblings laughed at this pitiful joke. All I could think about was that Turkish delight and a gold crown on my head.

Mrs. Beaver ignored the jibe made by her husband. "Now come inside and we'll see if we can't get you some food… and some civilized company!"

Peter, Susan and Lucy followed her inside, but something caught my eye. I turned and saw the two hills that the queen had told me about. I was determined to find them some how. Mr. Beaver tapped me on the foot.

"Enjoyin' the scenery are we?"

I shrugged and ducked inside. Peter had stopped dead in his tracks. He was staring at Justin's outstretched hand of welcome. We were all kind of in shock from all that had happened that day. Peter took the hand carefully. Justin smiled at him.

"Hello Peter." He said as he shook Peter's hand warmly. "I'm Justin and this is Mariel." He motioned to a girl about the same age as Justin who was standing behind him. She resembled Justin very closely. Their hair and eyes were the same color, but his hair was cut around his ears, hers was long, it flowed down her back like a red waterfall. I must admit that even at age 12, I could see that Mariel was very beautiful. Lucy ran forward and hugged Mariel while we just stared. Justin only nodded to me as Lucy introduced us to her friends.

Justin and Mariel began to talk to my siblings and soon, laughter echoed through the house. I sat by my self over in the corner. After a while, Justin came to sit next to me. I only glanced at him.

"I know" he said quietly.

"You know what?"

"That you have already met the witch that you call a queen."

My eyes grew wide. "You know?"

"I watched as you stepped into the sleigh and as you stepped out. I know you."

"How?" I asked.

"It's a long story. But I promise I wont tell the others. The only other person that knows is Mariel, and she wont tell."

I stared at him. "What do you want from me, Justin? Why just tell me that you know me? Who are you really?"

Justin sighed. "I really don't know. I don't know who I am. I don't know why I'm here. All I know is that I'm here to help. As for what I want, I want to be your friend. That's all. just your friend."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Then you already know that…"

Justin nodded. "That you're going to run tonight while the others are occupied with supper. Yes."

"You wont try to stop me?"

"No. I'm coming with you."

My eyes grew wide. "But, why?"

"Because I want to make sure you are safe. This country depends on it. So, will you accept my friendship?"

I sighed. I really didn't want this teenager to come with me. The reward was mine and mine alone. But I didn't want him to try to stop me and ruin my chance of getting to the queen's house. I could almost taste that Turkish Delight again! I could almost feel the weight of the golden crown!

"Yes, but only if you don't give me away."

Justin nodded in satisfaction. "My word on it." then he stood and went to supper with the Beavers and my siblings.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help Tumnus?" Lucy asked when supper was ready.

Mr. Beaver looked up from his plate. "They'll have taken him to the Witch's house. And you know what they say: there's few who go through them gates that come out again."

Lucy shrunk back at this, but Mrs. Beaver bustled over and laid a plate next to her with the loud exclamation of, "Fish and chips!" then seeing the sad look on Lucy's face, she continued. "But there is hope, dear. Lots of hope." She nudged Mr. Beaver and he sprayed his drink all over the table.

"What? Oh yeah, there's a right bit more than hope!" he leaned forward quietly. "Aslan is on the move!"

I looked blankly at him.

"Who's Aslan?"

Mr. Beaver burst into laughter. "Who's Aslan! You cheeky little blighter!" but his wife nudged him and he looked at us again. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Well we haven't exactly been here very long!" Peter answered.

"He's only the king of the whole wood, the top geezer… the real king of Narnia!"

Justin and Mariel looked at each other and nodded.

"He's been away for a long while." Mariel said.

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver looked at each other then at Justin and Mariel, obviously just as confused as we were.

"But he just got back! And he's waiting for you near the Stone Table!" Justin finished.

"He's waiting for us?" Lucy asked, thoroughly confused.

"You're blooming joking!" Mr. Beaver ranted after he got over his shock. "They don't even know about the prophecy!"

"Well then," Mariel said. "Can we tell them?" my mouth dropped wide open.

Mr. Beaver looked even more surprised than ever. "Wait, you know about it, but they don't?"

"Yes, but it's a long story." Justin answered. "So on with the prophecy?"

Mr. Beaver sighed. "Look… Aslan's return, Tumnus' arrest, the secret police… it's all happening because of you!"

"You're blaming us?" Susan asked.

"No! Not blaming." Mariel corrected. "We're thanking you!"

"You see," said Justin, "There's a Prophecy: 'when Adam's flesh and Adam's bone sits in Cair Paravel in throne the evil time will be over and done."

"You know that doesn't really rhyme." Susan pointed out.

"I know! You're kind of missing the point!" Mr. Beaver said exasperated. Mariel stepped in. I was loosing it quickly. This was crazy! I had to get out.

"It has long been foretold that two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia."

I saw my chance. The others were gawking and they didn't even notice that I was silently slipping away from the table and out the door. As soon as I had made it out the door, I ran, slipped and fell flat on my face on the ice. Smart me. Finally, I gathered myself together and started carefully but quickly to the side of the frozen river that was nearest to the queen's castle. I could only pray that I wouldn't have to cross the river again.

I had almost made it to the top of the hill when I heard someone behind me. I put on an extra burst of speed as Justin called my name. Finally he caught up with me and we stopped to catch our breath.

"I'm not going back!" I shouted as I tried to keep moving.

"I'm not going to try to stop you. I know I cant." Justin said as he followed me. "So I want to come with you. be there if you need help, that kind of thing."

I sighed. I had known he would come, but I really had wished that he wouldn't. "Fine, but hurry up. If the others find out I'm gone, they'll be on my trail pretty quick."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

As we walked through the gates of the castle, I stared in disbelief as I had so many times that day. It was completely made of ice! Justin and I looked back to see Mariel and Peter standing on the other side of the frozen lake. Then the doors shut and we could see them no more. We turned around and just about jumped out of our skin! We were facing a giant! Club raised, teeth bared. He was out to kill. But he did not move! Finally, we realized that he was made of stone. I felt Justin shudder beside me. Just before we reached the steps, a huge wolf jumped out and flattened us both with one paw on each of our chests.

"Be still strangers or you'll never move again! who are you?" the wolf asked.

I said my name. "I met the queen in the woods! She told me to come back here! We're Sons of Adam!"

The wolf got off of us then and let us stand up. "My apologies, fortunate favorites of the queen. Or else, not so fortunate. Right this way."

He led us up a long flight of stairs. When we reached the throne room, the wolf left us waiting at the foot of the stairs that led to the queen's throne. "Wait here." he said before stalking away.

Thoughts of Turkish Delight and golden crowns began to flood my head. Suddenly, I found myself moving up the stairs toward the throne. Justin's sharp whisper didn't even stop me.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Just trying it out!" I answered simply. I didn't really want him along, so I could treat him with as much contempt as I wanted. He was not, after all, about to be made a prince! I settled myself in the furs on the throne, thinking not at all about how comfortable it was but only about that golden crown and the Turkish Delight.

The next think I knew, the silky voice of the queen sounded in my ears.

"Like it?"

I jumped up, scared to death. "Yes… Your Majesty!"

She just glared at me before taking her seat. "I thought you might. Now who is this? Is this your brother?" she pointed to Justin.

I shook my head. "No, Your Majesty, this is my friend, Justin. He specially requested that he come to meet you."

The queen looked a little startled at this but she soon regained her cold stance. "Tell me, are your sisters deaf?"

I was totally confused now. "Um, no."

"And your brother. Is he… unintelligent?"

I smirked. "Well I think so, but mum says…"

"Then how DARE you come with only your friend! I asked so little of you."

I shrank back as she stood to her feet in righteous rage.

"They just don't listen to me!" I protested, trying to sound as pitiful as I looked. I couldn't believe she was doing this! Now I was realllllly scared.

"Couldn't even do that!" she continued.

"I did bring them half way! They're in the little house on the dam with the Beavers!" I finally managed to get out my information that I was sure would win me at least one piece of Turkish Delight. My hopes were unwarranted.

The witch, for that was what I finally realized she really was, took her seat again. "Well… I guess you're not a total loss then." She looked at Justin. "So, Justin, what business do you have at my castle?"

Justin gulped. "I just came to keep him company. It can get pretty dangerous out there." he said.

"You may find that it can be dangerous anywhere, with or without company." The Witch said coldly.

Finally, I got up my courage just enough to ask the one thing I'd been longing to as ever since she took the Turkish Delight away from me. "I was wondering… could I maybe have some more Turkish Delight now?"

The witch's head snapped back in my direction. Finally she looked to the dwarf. "Our guest is hungry. And take the other with you as well; it might do him some good."

Justin groaned. The dwarf stepped forward and drew his knife. "This way… for your num nums!" as he started to march Justin and I off, I heard the witch behind us calling to the wolf.

"Maugrim! You know what to do."

Justin and I watched in horrid fascination as Maugrim let out a howl and the rest of the wolves entered the throne room. To our horror, the wolves took off at a run toward the castle gates. We knew were they were going; to the Beaver's house. Oh how I wished I had never set foot in Narnia!

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I sat alone in the dark dungeon of the witch's castle. Since the castle was made of ice, it was no surprise to me that the dungeon followed suit. I sat huddled in a corner, trying to keep warm, but with little success. Oh why had I come? Why hadn't I listened to the warning in Justin's voice? Was it out of pure spite that I was willing to give up my family and friends... for this? I couldn't even rightly call them my friends. They were strangers who wished to be friends, but I had shoved them aside. No, if I ever got out of this, I would not, COULD not let them down again! Nothing would stop me. But it all looked quite bleak that I would ever get out. Justin was who knows where and I was locked alone in a dungeon. I could only pray that he was alright. I looked to the food for comfort, but when I tasted it, I nearly choked. I reached for the cup, but it was solid ice. I sighed.

"If you're not going to eat that…"

I nearly jumped out of my skin! There was something else down there with me! I looked up and to my surprise, I saw a faun in the next cell. Slowly, I reached over and handed the faun the bread. He tore hungrily at the bread.

"I'd get up, but… my legs."

I looked at him closer. "Mr… Tumnus."

The faun sighed. "What's left of him." But then he stopped and took a closer look at me. "You're Lucy Pevensie's brother."

I nodded and hugged my knees.

Tumnus smiled. "You have the same nose. Is your sister alright? Is she safe?"

Above us, the sound of wolves and gates opening and closing again startled us. I shivered with fear for my little sister. Peter and Susan could take care of themselves, Mariel looked like she could too, but Lucy? I wasn't so sure. "I don't know."

"What about the other two. Justin and Mariel?" Tumnus asked.

"I don't know about Mariel, but Justin is in here somewhere." I shivered again. In here somewhere. Such lonely words. If I ever got out of here… what was I saying? I would never get out!

"What?!" Tumnus nearly freaked out. "He's here? Where?"

"I think the dwarf said something about questioning." I said, very discouraged. From the looks the faun was giving me, I could see that my worst fears were probably way more than justified.

Tumnus groaned. "If he's in questioning, he will probably never make it out alive."

My eyes got big as I stared at the faun. I am ashamed to say that a tear rolled down my cheek as I realized what I had done. I am ashamed because that tear was more for myself and my predicament than any one else's.

Suddenly, my cell door was flung open and the witch herself strode boldly in. The guards were right behind her, dragging Justin. They threw him on the floor next to me.

"We have returned your friend." The witch said coldly. "My Police tore that dam apart. Your little family are nowhere to be found."

"What about the other one, a girl?" Justin asked desperately.

"Her? Your sister, right? Not a sign of her either." Justin sighed with relief. The witch reached for me and lifted me off the floor, chains and all. "Where did they go?"

I Stuttered. "I, I don't know."

The witch dropped me. "Then you are of no further use to me." She said and raised her wand to strike.

I was terrified and burst out, "Wait! The beaver said something about Aslan!"

The witch lowered her wand. "Aslan?... where?

Tumnus attempted to come to my rescue, noble faun that he was. "He's only a stranger here, Your Majesty. He cant be expected to know anything!"

The witch nodded to Ginarrbrick and he knocked Tumnus back with his ax butt. I winced in sympathy.

"I said, where is Aslan?" the witch asked me again. Tumnus and Justin looked imploringly at me, hoping I would not say anything else to give their friends and my family away. Fortunately, I was smart enough to take THAT hint, at least.

"I, I don't know. I left before they said anything… I wanted to see you!" I was glad she could not read my mind then, I was wishing with all my heart that I had never met this hag of a woman. She apparently did not seem impressed with my desire to see her. Ha, desire that had turned to hatred.

"Guard!" the witch called.

"Your Majesty?"

"Release the Faun." The Witch ordered. Tumnus's chains were broken and he was dragged to the witch. "Do you know why you're here, faun?"

"Because I believe in a free Narnia." Tumnus answered.

The witch smiled coldly at him. "You're here, because he turned you in… for sweeties." The witch pointed at me with her wand. The horror of what I had done dawned on me as Tumnus gave me an unbelieving look before the witch continued with her orders. "Take him upstairs… and ready my sleigh. These prisoners miss their families."

Once the witch, guards and Ginarrbrick had left with Tumnus, Justin looked at me.

"You faired worse than I did, and you had nothing happen to you."

I looked at him in amazement. "Are you kidding? Nothing happened? My life was just threatened and I found out that I betrayed my little sister's friend! How could that be nothing??"

"Because you haven't seen what they did to me yet." Justin said and winced from where he was lying on the ice. Only now did I notice that his clothes were soaked in blood and even the ice around him was turning red. Justin's face was twisted in pain and he could barely even move.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, horrified and concerned at the same time.

"You can find out while you help me re-wrap these bandages. Orges aren't really good at that sort of thing. Could you help me sit up and get my shirt off? It's a little difficult." Justin tried to raise his hands to push himself into a sitting position, but failed. He was that weak.

I helped him sit up and take his shirt off. What I saw almost made me faint. Would it please my noble reader to remember that I was only 12 at the time and blood, especially that much blood, and on a friend did not sit very well with me. Blood was coming through the bandage from front and back.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, almost afraid to look as I began to unwrap the bandages.

Justin winced as he tried to form the words through clenched teeth. "They had me spread eagled and whipped face down and face up. I was fortunate I thought of something to say to stop them. One or two more strokes of that whip and I would have been a goner."

I gasped in horror at the deep gory slashes and rents in Justin's back and chest. "How could someone do something like this to a living being?"

"They are evil. Pure evil." Justin said as he tried to finish unwinding the bandage. As I helped him, Justin got to see, not only feel how bad it was.

After rewrapping his back and chest carefully, Justin pulled his shirt back on and started tugging at the bandage on his hand. I noticed his trouble and helped. When I finished unwrapping the arm, I almost had to turn away. Justin's right arm was slit from the knuckles to the elbow and the gore oozed out freely. Once I had regained my stomach, I rewrapped Justin's arm. Just as I finished, Ginarrbrick and some of the guards came down and pushed me and carried Justin up the stairs and out the door to the courtyard.

I stopped when I saw the sleigh. I looked to my left and to my horror, there stood Tumnus, but no longer the living breathing Tumnus. This one was a statue. My blood started to boil with hatred and fear of this witch who had bewitched me so easily. My attention was distracted by the witched from her sleigh.

"When you're ready, sons of Adam."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

The witch, Justin, Ginarrbrick and I stared at the flowing river. Justin was just able to walk, but he was still very weak. All the snow was melting and spring was setting in strong, so Ginarrbrick started to take his coat off.

"It's so warm out…" he got a disapproving look from the witch. "I'll go and check the sleigh."

We turned as the wolves ran up, Maugrim and a big wolf. The big one had a fox in his mouth.

"Majesty, we found the traitor!" Maugrim said and the big wolf dumped the fox on the ground.

The witch smiled coldly at the fox. "Ah! Nice of you to drop in. you were so helpful to my wolves last night."

The fox bowed. "Forgive me Your Majesty."

The witch was unimpressed. "Don't waste my time with flattery. Your friend Justin knows that it will get you no where." Justin bristled with anger.

The fox interrupted her. "Not to seem rude, but I wasn't actually talking to you." to my amazement, he looked at Justin and I.

The witch seemed a little startled, but then she pointed her wand at the fox.

"Where is Aslan?"

The fox said nothing and the witch raised her wand, but I jumped between them.

"Wait! The Beavers said something about the Stone Table and that Aslan had an army there." Justin and the fox sighed. But I didn't care. I was only trying to save the fox's life. It was the least I could do.

The witch smiled. "Thank you. I'm glad this creature got to see some honesty… before he died!" the witch swung her wand and touched the fox.

"NO!" I screamed. Justin winced and tears started rolling down his cheeks. But the fox was a stone statue, and nothing would change that.

The witch turned and hit me hard in the face. Then, she put her hand on my shoulder like a mother, trying to make her unruly child understand something. "think about who's side you're on. Mine, or theirs?" she turned my head toward the stone fox then she gave me a shove and turned toward her wolves. "Gather the faithful. If it's a war Aslan wants…" a butterfly was turned to stone. "It's a war he shall get."

I stared for a moment long before a huge tear coursed it's way down my cheek.

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A few days later, I forget how many, I found myself tied to a huge tree with Justin next to me. Time seemed to go slower than a snail and all lump together in one horrible dream. They didn't hurt me much. When Justin was able to talk, he told me that it was because they were keeping me alive as bait. That made me feel so much better… yeah right. I felt horrible to be used as bait to capture my siblings and or friends. Justin was badly beat up. At times, he could not even talk he was in so much pain. He couldn't even scream or yell. All he could do was moan. I never knew what they did to him, but he would be dragged away every two hours to be tortured. From the screams I heard coming from his direction, I certainly did not want to know what they were doing to him. He was always covered in blood. He couldn't sit up or eat. His face was barely recognizable through all the cuts and blood.

Ginarrbrick was walking around the tree that Justin and I were tied to. He had been ordered not to harm me too badly, but he could do what he wanted to Justin… as long as he didn't kill him. the dwarf was thoroughly enjoying torturing Justin and taunting me.

"Is our little prince uncomfortable?" the dwarf asked me. "Does he want his pillow fluffed? Special treatment for the special boy! Isn't that what you wanted?"

Justin moaned. He had been beaten again, but the dwarf had not cared where he struck. Justin was covered in cuts and bruises, but at least he was alive. He told me that he had dreamed of Mariel the night before. He said that he wished that he could be with her. He had seen her get knocked out in a river, and fight wolves. He had woken up when she was unconscious, so he didn't even know if she was alive. He wished so bad for a rescue, so he could rescue her. But the pain continued and so did the torture.

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I heard swords being drawn and the clash of battle. I feared that Justin and I would be killed to keep us from escaping, but no. A huge centaur came pounding through the camp with 20 soldiers of Narnia behind him, fauns, satars, even some cats. It was midnight and the guards had been asleep. A huge sword was in the centaurs hands, in the blink of an eye, he slashed the ropes from us and lifted me onto his back. Carefully, he lifted Justin, who was unconscious, as carefully as he would lift a baby. As soon as he had made sure we were secure, he led his troupes out the way they had come, leaving Ginarrbrick tied to the tree.

When we reached the edge of the camp, we met a huge golden lion. I instantly knew that it was Aslan. His presence radiated from him like the sun. He was larger than any other lion I had ever seen, more golden, his teeth were sharper, his paws more velvety. When he spoke, everyone listened. His voice was as deep and soothing as a slow river. It had a magical tone in it.

"Put him on my back, Oreius. He has endured much in my service."

The centaur, who I later learned was named Oreius, carefully laid the bruised and battered Justin across the lion's golden back. Justin groaned and awakened enough to twine his fingers into the glorious mane.

Suddenly, my tiredness took over and I lost my grip on the centaur's shoulders. I hit the ground hard, but hardly had I felt earth beneath my hands than a great burly hand swept me up and held me like a baby. As we ran, I gradually realized that it was Oreius who had picked me up. Then, my exhausted body went into sleep mode and I knew no more.

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The next morning, I awoke in a red tent. The first thing I saw was the giant golden lion standing over me. I rose slowly and bowed before him.

"Forgive me, Aslan."

The lion did not answer. He only started walking toward the tent flap. "Come."

Obediently, I followed. I could not take my eyes off the huge lion. We walked to a spot above the camp and he sat down. I remained standing out of respect.

"My son. Do you understand what you have done?"

"No sir, not entirely." I answered glumly.

"Because of you, a sacrifice must be made. You willingly betrayed you siblings and your friends to the enemy, and then you allowed another to come with you and bare the punishment that you would have received had she not known of your family. Because of you, the witch now knows where to strike us, and she will do so, without delay. Because of you, we do not have the time needed to gather a proper fighting force against the one she will have. You, my son, are responsible for the deaths of innocent creatures. But, I forgive you. Your life will not be easy though, and you must suffer, but you will be freed from this. You will be a king of Narnia, under your brother, Peter. You will be just and wise. Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen.

Now have peace, for your siblings have arrived safely. Justin is healing and should awake in a few hours. Mariel, however, has not yet been found. When she is, she and Justin will be instated as you and your siblings' guardians. They will protect you from evil. Forget not, my child, what has happened to you, for not all will understand or want to believe what you tell them when you return to your own world. But remember, my child, that you will return one day. Never loose faith. Learn from your sister, Lucy, to have faith even when it seems hopeless. Remember that hopeless is the home of the hopeful. It will not be easy, but I have faith that you will conquer. Do you understand?"

I nodded, then slowly shook my head. "Not really, sir. I will try though. Perhaps as I grow, it will become clear."

Aslan beamed. "Your wisdom already springs forth! Always remember, my son, that you are forgiven."

"Yes, Aslan." I bowed my head and let a tear roll down my face. I had not realized the scope of my stupidity.

Suddenly, I noticed Peter standing below us. The girls joined him and Lucy yelled my name. She was apparently happy to see me, but the others? I was not so sure about them. Aslan gave me a nudge. I started down the hill toward them and He followed me.

I stuck my hands in my pockets and hung my head as I stopped before them. Aslan's voice beside me sent warmth running through my body.

"What's done is done. There is no need to speak about what is past."

The golden lion walked away slowly, his paws barely making a noise on the grass.

Finally I got the courage to speak. "Hello."

Lucy jumped forward and hugged me. Susan followed suit, but Peter stayed where he was. Susan, the mother, asked the first question.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm a little tired. Justin's in much worse shape than I am. He got the worst of it."

Peter's stern voice cut across my thoughts of Justin. "Get some sleep."

I started up the hill toward the pavilion, but Peter stopped me. "try not to wander off again."

It was said in jest! He had forgiven me. I felt complete. For the moment, I forgot my troubles and fell asleep in one of the hammocks.

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The whispering voices of my siblings woke me about noon. It was lunch time and they were sitting around a small table in the center of the tent. I came and sat down between Susan an Lucy. Peter smiled at me from across the table.

"Welcome back!"

I grinned and looked around at my siblings. They were all wearing Narnian clothes and they all wore weapons at their sides. Peter explained.

"We met father Christmas in the woods when we were coming here. He gave us these gifts." He displayed a magnificent sword with a golden lion's head at the hilt. The words 'when Aslan bears his teeth, winter meets it's death' were inscribed on the blade. The sheath has 'Rhindon' written in silver on it. Peter also had a beautiful shield of silver with a red lion embossed on the front. Susan had a small bow and arrows, complete with ivory quiver and an ivory horn in the shape of a lion's head. Lucy showed me her dagger and a special cordial that she said could heal any injury. I found out later that this cordial had been administered to Justin and that he was healing nicely.

We continued to eat until Lucy got bored and grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it in my mouth. I spluttered as she playfully rammed it down my throat. As soon as I had gotten it down, I reached for another piece, but just then, the tent flap was pushed open, and there stood Justin, covered head to toe in scares, and he was carrying the limp form of Mariel.

We jumped to our feet and crowed around, trying to see if she was still alive. She had been bitten by wolves and there were gashes in her arms and legs. I learned later that she had fought off 6 wolves al by her self. Finally, Lucy was able to squeeze through and get a drop of the cordial she had received from father Christmas down Mariel's throat. We stood back and watched as Mariel slowly opened her eyes. Justin nearly dropped her with relief. Carefully, Justin put Mariel on the hammock in the corner. She looked around and saw Aslan. Her eyes lit up with delight. I watched as her eyes suddenly strayed to Justin and their eyes locked.

I smiled, then Lucy and I began to laugh. It felt so good to laugh. It had been so long since I had laughed. Mariel broke her gaze with Justin and stared around at us, the smile on her face bright enough to bring the sun out in the middle of a stormy day. We were together again and that was enough for me. All 6 of us were safe.

Mariel's voice seemed a little dry, but she spoke out strong. "Um, Lucy, aren't you forgetting something?"

Lucy looked down and saw the sword. She smiled and took the sword and broach in hand. To my utter and complete astonishment, she turned and bowed to me.

"For you, my brother, from Father Christmas. May they serve you well."

"Well said." Aslan purred as I took the sword and broach. I gaped at the sword that was named Shelfhem. It was perfectly balanced. Absolutely beautiful. Peter led me to his tent where I was to stay and left me with the Narnian clothes on the hammock. When he had left, I stripped and put on the Narnian clothes. They were soooo comfortable. I strapped my sword to my waist and fastened the broach to my collar.

When I stepped out of the tent, I saw Mariel in her new Narnian attire striding off with a bow and arrows and two swords strapped to her back. I smiled then went to find my siblings. Peter had gone for a walk, so I went to find Oreius. He was on the training grounds, teaching some younger fauns in the art of warfare. As I walked up, he bowed.

"Oreius," I began as I bowed back. "First I would like to thank to for rescuing me." He merely nodded in accent. "Secondly," I held my sword out to him on my palms. "I have absolutely no idea how to use this, so if you could show me, I would be grateful."

A slow smile formed across Oreius's normally stoic face. He drew his sword and saluted with it. I followed suit. For the next two hours, I learned to fight with Oreius. He was an excellent trainer, as well as the general of our army. When he had finished with me, he sent me to get something to eat.

When I got back, my siblings were sitting at the low table out in the open with Justin and Mariel. Susan, Peter and Lucy weren't eating since they had already eaten, but I had just been through some fairly strenuous training and I was hungry. Justin and Mariel were also eating since they hadn't eaten anything in several days. Lucy looked a us and laughed.

"Narnia's not going to run out of toast, guys."

Peter nodded. "I'm sure they'll back some up for the journey back."

Susan looked at him puzzled. "We're going back?"

"You three are. I can't tell Justin and Mariel what to do. I promised Mum I'd keep you three safe. But that doesn't mean I can't stay and help." I started to shake my head but Lucy got to it before I did.

"But, they need us… all six of us."

Peter shook his head. "Lucy, it's too dangerous. You almost drowned, Edmund, Justin and Mariel were almost killed!"

"Which is why we have to stay." I said out of the blue. "I've seen what the White Witch can do… and I've helped her do it." Justin shifted uncomfortably. "And we can't leave these people behind to suffer for it!" I knew I had to atone for my sins, and this was the best way I knew how.

Justin nodded and Susan and Mariel got up at the same time.

"Where are you going?" Justin asked.

Susan and Mariel picked up their bows and arrows. "To get in some practice." Mariel smiled and the girls headed for the archery ranges. Justin smiled at Peter and I.

"Should we humor them?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?" Peter and I laughed and ran off for the stables.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

We retrieved our horses and galloped toward the archery ranges. Susan and Mariel were firing arrows at the target, Mariel seemed to be doing extremely well, but Susan was a little behind in that aspect. Lucy hit a bulls eye with her dagger. We galloped over the ridge and Peter and I threw a few blocks and parries. I rode a brown stallion while Peter rode bareback on a white unicorn named Flisk. Justin took his time, letting Peter and I warm up a little. Apparently, he was and excellent swordsman and he didn't want to spoil our fun. Peter started shouting directions to me, since I still hadn't quite gotten the hang of fighting.

"Come on! En guard! Keep your sword up like Oreius showed us! Now block!"

Justin decided that it was time to make his entrance. He let the reigns of this jet black horse fall and kicked the stallion into a run. He kept his seat with his knees as he whipped out the two swords that Mariel had brought him from Father Christmas. Peter and I turned to face him, but Justin passed right between us, as he did, he blocked both our swings at once. He turned and faced us again, but this time, when Peter struck, he disarmed Justin and he let out a yell before falling off his horse.

Mariel saw and ran for him, calling his name the whole way. When she reached him, Justin was writhing on the ground. Peter and I were already kneeling next to him, trying to calm him down. Mariel dropped her bow and knelt beside him, holding his shoulders down as Peter began feeling for any broken bones.

"What's wrong, Justin?" Mariel asked. "What happened?" she looked up at me for an explanation, but I could only shrug in dismay. I had no idea what had happened.

Justin continued to writhe, but Peter soon found the problem because he followed the blood. He carefully rolled up Justin's sleeves and we gasped in terror. The jagged cut from his knuckles was wide open and pouring blood. The other hand was nearly cut off, a gift from Ginarrbrick we were sure. Lucy arrived and poured a drop of the cordial into Justin's mouth. He stopped writhing, but as soon as the pain was gone, and the cuts and breaks were healed, he fainted from loss of blood. Mariel set his head on her lap as she looked at me.

"I knew about his right arm, but what happened to his left?"

"I don't know, Mariel. I wasn't near him for much of my stay with the witch. But I did hear a lot of screaming and painful yells from the direction they took him. when he returned, he always looked worse than the time before." I bowed my head and let the tears flow. I knew this was all my fault and I could do nothing about it. absolutely nothing.

"This isn't my fault is it?" Peter asked. "I mean, I'm the one who disarmed him. but I don't thin I touched him."

I shook my head. "I don't think so, Peter. This has to be some trick of the witch."

Mariel nodded. "I think he also went through a lot more than he dared tell us, even you," she nodded to me "And you were there."

Peter sighed. "We'd better get him back to Aslan. Who knows what else he didn't tell us." Peter and I helped to lift Justin back onto his stallion, Thunder. Mariel grabbed her bow and climbed up behind him to keep him on. Susan rode with Peter and Lucy climbed up behind me. Just as we were ready to go, Mr. Beaver came running us, which made my horse rear.

"Whoa horsey!" I yelled.

The horse settled back on the ground then turned his baleful eyes to look at me.

"My name is Philip."

This startled me so bad I almost forgot to answer him. "Oh, sorry." Mr. Beaver was almost dancing with impatience at his message.

"You six better come quick! The witch had demanded a meeting with Aslan. She's on her way there!"

My heart clenched with fear. Lucy noticed my hands clenching Philips reigns and she placed a calming hand on my shoulder. I relaxed outwardly, but inwardly, my mind was rerunning the words of Aslan…

"Because of you, a sacrifice must be made." Because of me. He had not said what the sacrifice would be, or when, but somewhere in the pit of my stomach, I knew that it was to take place very soon, perhaps it would begin at this meeting with the witch.

Mariel looked at us. "We'd better get moving if we are to get Justin help before she arrives."

I nodded and took off for camp with the others behind me. I needed to think, and going fast was helping to clear my brain.

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When we arrived back at the tents, Justin was still unconscious. We galloped to Aslan and my siblings and I leapt off our steeds while Mariel awaited help for Justin. Aslan jumped down the rock formation he was sitting on and ran to us.

"What happened?" He asked. He looked at me, but I stayed silent, my jaw clenched so I would show no emotion.

"We're not sure." Mariel answered. "He and the boys were practicing their swordsmanship and suddenly Justin yelled and fell off Thunder. When we reached him, the wound in his arm was open and bleeding and his left wrist was nearly cut off. I think he'd been hiding that from us. I noticed that when he got back, he always wore a leather bracelet over that spot."

Still I said nothing. Peter carried Justin inside Aslan's tent while I sent the horses back to the stables. When everyone was inside, Aslan breached on Justin to revive him. he woke trembling. Aslan touched his forehead with his tongue and he relaxed.

"Justin," The lion said softly. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure." Justin said shakily.

"Where else were you tortured?" Aslan asked.

"I'm not sure of that either." Justin answered unhappily. "Most of it happened when I was out cold." he looked at Susan, Lucy and Mariel then at the tent flap. Aslan took the hint.

"Ladies, would you please leave us? I will call you back in when you are needed."

Susan and Lucy nodded and stepped outside, but Mariel remained. "Please Justin, let me stay."

"Mariel, please, I don't want you to see this." Justin said and turned his head away.

"Very well, I'll be right outside if you need me." She said, sniffed and walked out. I watched as she walked out of the tent and noticed that she glanced back at Justin right before she left. I saw the longing in her eyes. It was plain to see that she loved him deeply. I turned back to Justin as he shrugged out of his tunic. The scares covered him from head to toe, no place as far as I could see had been left unscathed. It was obvious that Justin had been on the edge of death the entire time he was in the witch's camp.

Justin began telling almost all of the horror story that the could remember. He knew that most, if not all of the creatures in the camp had taken a swing at him with some sort of weapon or claw. It had been Ginarrbrick that had nearly cut his hand off. He had been tortured every couple hours when he was in the witch's camp. It became a daily routine; every two hours, he would be taken away for torture for about an hour and a half before he was returned to me to rest for a half an hour before they started the process again. they had also had their torture routine down. First he would be whipped spread eagled, face up and down. Then even if he wasn't conscious when they finished with that, they'd pick random places and simply rip them open with a knife. The only rule that the witch had for torturing him was that Justin was not to be killed. That was the only precaution that they took while they did whatever they wanted to him. Justin normally passed out during the cutting section, but he always suspected that they did much more to him than he wanted to know. He would wake up with scars (always bandaged to make sure that he lived) in places that he didn't remember getting hurt in. Justin said all he could remember, trying to get it out of his system.

I listened in horror to the boy as he unknowingly told me what I had caused. When he finished, Aslan leaned over him so the now 17 year old could hug him. Justin buried his head into the Lion's Mane, letting the tears flow. When he released Aslan, the Lion stepped back and looked at him.

"Justin, you have been through much for my sake, but your suffering is not over. The witch has done a little of this to my subjects before and she has not changed her technique. While you were unconscious, one of her creatures took invisible iron shards and put them into your wounds, so that whenever you moved that part of your body wrong, they would open again. this was insurance so that if you were ever rescued, you would never be able to fight her."

Peter grimaced in horror, but I kept my face blank, jaw clenched, trying not to give way to my emotions.

"Is there any way to get rid of these shard of iron?" Justin asked hopefully.

Aslan nodded. "There is one way. Your wounds must be opened again and the dryads must take out the iron. Only they can see the iron. But since we don't know how many of your wounds they put these in, we will have to open them all, and you have already lost too much blood."

"But I must fight in the battle, Aslan! I must go through with the operation, if only to fight for you." Justin said as he tried to sit up, but he was too weak. I felt insanely sorry for him. I knew the drive to fight against our enemy that burned in his veins. I knew, because even though he had been tortured, I was the one who got the worst out of that camp. It was I that had betrayed my family and friends. I wanted nothing more than to kill that witch.

Aslan looked sorrowfully at Justin. "My son, you will loose too much blood. You will die. You must have more blood before you can survive an operation of this magnitude." He said as he pushed Justin back down on the hammock.

"And there is no one else with the same blood type as I have, right?" Justin asked.

"There are only six humans in Narnia, including you. the chance would be very slim. Besides, you need more blood than any one of them could give even if they had your blood type."

"I will not ask so much of my friends." Justin said as he reached for his tunic. "You can bring the girls back in if you wish."

Peter left the tent to go look for my our sisters. Almost immediately, Mariel burst into the tent. "I just need to know three things." She said as she ran in. "Are you okay, how bad is it, and can we do anything about it?"

I watched as Aslan told Mariel what he had told Justin, but he said nothing about the form of torture Justin had received. He only said that it was much worse than we had originally thought.

"Is there anything I can do?" Mariel asked.

"Not unless you have the same blood type as Justin." Aslan said. Still I stood by Justin's head and kept my mouth shut. Justin noticed my silence and gave me a quizzical look.

"Is there anyway to find out?" Mariel asked.

"Yes." Aslan said. "I can tell."

"What do I have to do? I'll do it." Mariel said eagerly.

"We must wait until after I have spoken with the witch." Aslan said. "She should be here any moment. Can you walk, Justin?"

"I don't know." Justin said as he tried to stand. "I can stand, but walking might be a challenge."

Peter had returned by now with Susan and Lucy. He looked at Mariel and nodded. "We'll help you walk out there." he said. "Lean on Mariel and I."

Susan and Lucy led the way, Justin, Mariel and Peter went next, and Aslan after them. I stayed rooted to the spot, my jaw clenched to keep the tears from rolling down my face. Aslan turned and looked at me. Those eyes. They melted my heart and I tear slipped down my cheek.

"Aslan. Can you erase time?"

The great golden lion shook his head sadly. "No, my son. Even if I could, would you force Justin to go through all that again? No, my child, you both have learned from this experience. It is… better this way."

I hung my head. When the lion took another step to go out of the tent, I looked back up. "Aslan, I would die for you."

He turned around and looked me straight in the eye. "Pray that you will not have to, for that burden has been removed from your shoulders. I bear it now." He turned and walked out of the tent and I was left standing by the hammock in shock. Surely this would not be the sacrifice he had spoken of. I could not allow that. He was far more important than I was.

Once I had regained my composure, I stepped out of the tent and joined my friends and family.

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The six of us stood in the crowd near the front as the White Witch walked up to a perfectly calm Aslan. He flicked his tail as she stood before him.

"You have traitors in your midst, Aslan." She said coolly.

"His offence was not against you." Aslan answered.

"You speak of one traitor, but I said that you have two in your midst." The witch retorted.

"the other of which you speak is innocent." Aslan said.

The witch did not reply to this, instead she questioned Him. "Have you forgotten the laws upon which Narnia was built?"

Aslan stood up and growled out, "Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, witch! I was there when it was written."

The witch smiled. "then you'll remember well that every traitor belongs to me… their blood is my property."

I shivered as Peter and Mariel drew their blades. "Try and take them then. You've already taken enough of their blood." Peter said for both of them. But Justin put his hand on Mariel's and lowered her weapons. I could not take my eyes off the my nemesis.

The White Witch laughed. "Do you think that mere force can deny me my right, little king? Aslan knows that unless I have blood as the law demands, all of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water. Those boys will die on the Stone Table… as is tradition." She turned to Aslan. "You dare not refuse me."

Aslan growled. "Why do you keep claiming someone who is not yours? Justin is innocent!"

"He came with the other to help him. he could have stopped him, but he didn't. he helped the other betray you." The witch accused.

"I came with him to protect him!" Justin shouted. "I didn't try to stop him because I knew I couldn't."

"And why could you not?" the witch asked. "You are six years older than he. Why could you not have stopped him?"

I stiffened. How dare she accuse the innocent! Justin was free of this. It was on my shoulders alone and I knew what my punishment was to be. Death on the Stone Table. Very well then, I deserved it, I would take it like the king I was meant to be.

"I knew then, I don't know now." Justin sighed.

"He proves my point!" exclaimed the witch. "He is as guilty as the other."

"Enough!" Aslan nearly roared. "I shall talk with you alone."

The witch smiled as if she knew she had won and followed the Great Lion into his tent.

Peter and Mariel helped Justin sit down. Susan, Lucy and I joined them on the ground. Justin and I hung our heads.

"I really put my foot in it, didn't I?" Justin asked.

"You could say that." I said. "But at least you know you're innocent. I know that I'm not. Aslan will have to give me back."

Susan and Lucy hugged me and Peter stoked his sword hilt.

"They'll have trouble getting you back." Peter said defiantly. "I'll make sure of that."

"As will I." Mariel said. "She'll never get you or Justin when Peter and I are around." She drew one of her knives and tossed it. Justin caught it as it came down and stuck it back in its sheath.

"No." He said. "Don't you see? You can't kill her with normal weapons. We've been with her long enough to know that none of you could truly hurt her. She is to powerful."

"Aslan is more powerful than that witch." Lucy suggested. "He could kill her."

"I'm sure He will, Lucy." I said. "It's when and where that matter."

After a few more minutes, the witch came out of the tent followed by Aslan. She walked back to the bier that she had been carried on. As she walked past, she gave Justin and I an icy look. Suddenly I could hear her words in my head.

"You have failed. He is dead because of you. Now nothing, not even your death can free you from this debt. You are guilty forever because of what you have done. Nothing will stop me now. NOTHING! You are MINE!"

But then she moved on.

We all looked to Aslan. He stayed silent for a moment, then… "She has renounced her claim on the sons of Adam's blood."

We cheered and Peter, Susan, Lucy and Mariel mobbed Justin and I. But the witch had one more thing to say.

"How do I know this promise will be kept?"

Aslan roared until the hills echoed around us. The witch abruptly sat down on her chair and her guard carried her out of the camp. as she left, everyone cheered, laughed and danced for joy. But Aslan did not laugh. Instead, he hung his head. I could not help but remember what he had said earlier.

"That burden has been removed from your shoulders. I bear it now."

I noticed that Justin and Mariel seemed to have seen the sadness of the lion as well. We celebrated without joy.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

My siblings and I were sitting with our backs to a tree, watching the soldiers go about their business. Justin and Mariel were in the tent with Aslan getting their blood type checked. Suddenly I had a thought.

"Peter, we all have the same blood type don't we?"

"Yeah, so?"

"What if we also had the same blood type as Justin? We could donate our blood so he could have the operation!"

Peter brightened up at this. "That's great idea! What do you think, Susan? Lucy?"

"What do I think?" Lucy asked. "What do you mean what do I think? Why are we sitting here when we could be helping Justin??"

For the first time since the witch had been there, I laughed and we ran toward the tent.

Bursting into the tent with the rest of us at his heals, Peter addressed Aslan. "Sorry for interruption, but we have a solution. We four have the same blood type, so if we have the same as Justin, we can help then none of us will have to give as much."

Aslan nodded. "That is true. let me see your hand, Peter." After examining it for a moment, Aslan nodded. "It is the same."

We all sighed in relief. "When do we begin?" Mariel asked.

"As soon as you are ready." Aslan said. "I will summon the dryads and they will perform the operation. But when ever you decide to do it, it must be done soon if Justin is to go into battle. The witch will be ready to attack in four days."

I sighed, battle in four days. Would I be ready?

"What are we waiting for then?" Peter asked. "I'm ready now." The rest of us nodded. We would do this together, and we would do this now.

"Justin smiled at us. "Thank you, friends, brothers, and sisters."

Aslan nodded. "I will call the dryads then."

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Two hours later, Mariel, my siblings and I woke up. Narnia did not have the technology that our world or the world that Mariel came from had, so it had taken much longer than it would have in our world. the dryads had revived us with Lucy's cordial, but Justin was still in the operation in a different tent. We sat for a while and talked, since it wouldn't be safe to stand up quickly after loosing that much blood. It was during this time that I found out that my brother had been knighted for killing Maugrim the wolf. He had been named Sir Peter Wolfsbane. I was extremely proud of my brother.

I sat in silence, staring at the tent wall, knowing that my doom was near. I was trying to prepare myself to accept it, no matter what it was.

A few hours later, Justin was back with us and awake. After having a little of Lucy's cordial, he felt good as new and a desperate urge to practice with his swords. Since the rest of us were still a little weak, we watched as Justin practiced. At first, he was cautious, still afraid that the dryads may have missed some of the iron, but gradually, he became more confident and soon, his swords were practically a blur to watch.

I watched Mariel as she began to toss her knife up and catch it. She toyed with her gifts for a few moments then she got up to face Justin. He didn't even stop. He tossed one of his swords to her and she tossed a knife to him. they had apparently done this many times before. Quickly, they blocked, thrust, parried, swung, and chopped. Their blades moved like lighting. I watched in amazement, wishing that I knew how to fight like that. The sound of clashing swords drew Aslan and Oreius into the tent at a run. When they saw what was going on, they sat back and watched. Oreius almost looked pleased. Finally, Justin disarmed Mariel, sending her two blades into the ground at their feet. His sword flicked up to her throat and the fight was over.

Mariel smiled at Justin and again, I saw that deep longing in her eyes. I looked at Justin and to my surprise, I saw the exact same look in his eyes, but neither seemed to be able to understand what the other was trying to communicate. "You haven't lost your touch." She said.

"Neither have you." He answered. I smiled. So this was the reason that Justin had held on in the witch's camp so long. He wanted to be with Mariel, I could see it. It was in his voice, the way he moved, walked and the way he was gentle with her.

Oreius raised his eyebrows as Justin stuck his blades into the ground beside Mariel's and they bowed to each other with their right hands over their hearts; their signal that their fight was over. The big centaur nodded and looked at Aslan. The lion nodded in agreement to the unspoken request. A smile formed on the giant centaur's lips. He motioned to the two extraordinary fighters as they sheathed our weapons.

"Justin and Mariel, come forward."

They looked at each other then stepped forward.

Aslan nodded to them. "Kneel." They knelt before him, Justin with his sword, Freedom, and Mariel with her knife, Love, held over her heart, point down. The lion then laid his paw on Justin's shoulder and then the heavy paw was transferred to Mariel's shoulder. Then the lion said, "Rise Sir Justin Lighting Strike, and rise Siv Mariel Blade Flash."

Justin and Mariel looked at each other in shock. Aslan explained.

"We have need of knights that can lead in the battle. You both will be together during the battle, since it seems that you fight best with each other."

"But Aslan, it was just a simple exercise in swordplay." Mariel protested. "We haven't done anything worthy of being knighted."

"You forget your slaughter of the wolves in the forest, Siv Mariel, and your bravery during your time with the witch, Sir Justin." Oreius said. "You have more than enough reasons to be knighted. Your skills with your blades just gave another reason for it."

Justin and Mariel bowed to our superiors. "I am glad you are pleased." Justin said for them both. "May we serve Narnia in whatever way that we are needed."

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That night, around midnight, Justin sat straight up in his hammock. He shook me awake, but only called to Peter from the other side of the room. He had learned quickly that Peter did not wake well. On hearing Justin's voice, Peter grabbed his sword and drew it all in one motion. This had become his habit ever since he had learned to use his sword. When he realized that the coast was clear, he looked at Justin, wondering why the 17 year old had woken him, which was the same thing I was wondering.

"Peter, something's wrong." Justin said simply. "I'm not sure what, but could one of your check the girl's tent? I'm afraid that something has happened." I looked up alarmed from where I was pulling on my boots.

Peter was immediately out of the tent and running for the girl's tent. I was right on his tail and since he didn't really want to be left behind in a dark tent, Marin followed. Peter burst into the tent, but the girls weren't there. he turned and looked at Justin, puzzled. Justin lit a candle and looked around the room. On Mariel's bed, was a note for him. he picked it up and, read it, then read it again, this time aloud to us.

"Justin, remember Aslan's eyes the day the witch came. We've followed Him. don't worry, we'll be fine. We'll try to make it back before the battle, but if not, you can know for certain that we are with Aslan. Please, stay alive. Keep the others safe. By His love, Mariel."

Justin folded the note and put it in his belt pouch. We heard Peter's sword ring and spun around. A woman stood there, totally made out of leaves and petals; a dryad. Her voice was like the wind when she spoke.

"Be still my princes. I bring grave news from your sisters."

I stepped back. "You don't have to tell me, I already know. I guessed it long ago. Aslan is dead."

Peter looked at me in astonishment. "But it can't be true! How do you know?"

"Something he said." I said simply. The dryad nodded in agreement to what I had said.

"It is true, the Great Lion is dead."

When Justin heard the news, he ran out of the tent and into the woods. I too left the tent and ran to a tree that I had befriended. It was shaped like a seat and the dryad that lived in it said that it did not mind if I climbed it. I climbed about 10 feet to the seat, wrapped myself around the tree and sobbed. The tears had been long in coming, but I knew that they had to come or I would go mad. I felt soft hands caressing me, but I did not look up. I knew it was the dryads. They had congregated to comfort me. They danced a death dance around my tree, mourning for their dead king. I returned when dawn lifted her rosy fingers over the edge of the horizon. I found Peter and Oreius standing outside Aslan's tent next to a table with a map on it. I joined them just before Justin ran up. Peter shook his head.

"She's right, He's gone."

I looked up at him. "Then you'll have to lead us." Peter shook his head again. "Peter, there's a whole army out there and it's ready to follow you."

Peter looked at me. "I can't!"

He was scared, I could see it in his eyes. He was just as terrified as I was.

"Aslan believed you could." Justin said as he walked up. "And so do I."

Oreius stepped up. "The witch's army is nearing, sire. What are your orders?"

Peter looked down at the map. Then up at Justin. "Can you send Mariel's and my sister's horses to the Stone Table? I don't want them on foot if there should be trouble. They're talking horses, so they know the way."

Justin nodded and left the pavilion.

Peter and I worked on the battle plan for about ten minutes. I know that's short for a battle plan, but it was all the time we had. We had to be moving and get in position before the witch did. Oreius was a big help, he knew exactly what Aslan wanted and he told us exactly how to do things. He gave us a hundred different scenarios of what to do should this or that happen. I memorized them as quickly as I could.

We stopped planning when my Lucy, Susan and Mariel's horses ran up. There was Swiftfoot, Lucy's horse, a palomino, Summer, a chestnut mare, she was Susan's horse, and Aria, a silver mare, was Mariel's horse. The trotted up, bowed to us and took off into the distance. We figured that Justin was not far behind them, so we ran off to our tent to get ready for battle. Soon, Justin appeared with Thunder, Philip and Flisk. He flung on his armor and gave Peter a leg up onto Flisk, who had no saddle. Unicorns are extremely proud beasts. Then we were off, leading an army for Beruna.

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Peter sat on Flisk on the top of a small mound in front of the Narnian lines. Oreius stood on his left, and Justin sat on Thunder to his right. I watched from the cliff above with Philip by my side. He had insisted that he stay within three feet of me at all times "in case of emergency." I almost laughed when he had told me that. This WAS an emergency!

A Gryphon came soaring out of the sky from across the field to report to my brother. I couldn't hear what he said, I was far too high above them for that. I watched grimly and I gripped harder on my sword as the white witch's army came into view over a little rise. Peter drew his sword and held it up in challenge to the opposing army. The entire army broke out in cheers. The witch appeared in a chariot drawn by polar bears. She wore a chain mail dress and a golden crown that slightly resembled a lion's head. Around her neck was Aslan's mane, cut from him at the Stone Table.

I could only watch as the witch's army charged across the field toward us. Finally, Peter pointed his blade at the charging army. I raised my blade to the skies and over head, over 200 gryphons took flight. They carried huge boulders to drop on the charging army. I almost cheered when the first rock struck. But to my dismay, I realized that none would land on the witch, she had not moved from her little rise. But then my dismay turned to alarm when the dwarf archers of the witch's army started to fire arrows at the gryphons and bring them down.

I watched as Peter held up his sword and yelled at the top of his lounges:

"For Narnia! And for ASLAN!!"

Flisk reared and took off down the field. Justin and Oreius were right behind him with the rest of the army. Peter lifted his sword arm and slammed down his visor as Oreius and Justin drew their double swords. I gripped my sword in anticipation as the lines grew closer. I gritted my teeth and begged for the chance to get my sword near the neck of the witch, or at least her death wand. I thought of Justin and Mariel. Would they survive this battle long enough to find out that they loved each other? I was only 12, but I knew. I found myself holding my breath, waiting for impact. The armies crashed together and the chaos ensued.

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I watched in horror as Peter and Justin were separated in the fighting. Justin realized this and began hacking his way back to his ward. Then my eyes flicked up to farther down the battle field. The witch was moving!

Mr. Beaver tugged on my tunic. "She's moving, get ready!"

A female centaur picked her arrow and waited.

"Fire!" I yelled.

She dipped the arrow into the fire before drawing it back and letting it fly. In response to the signal, a Phoenix burst into flames and flew across the field, separating the Narnian troupes from the witch's. Peter raised his visor as Justin pulled up on Thunder bedside him. The Witch's chariot didn't even slow down as she approached the fire. She simply raised her wand and the fire parted for her like a blue sheet of ice. Peter and Justin turned and started back toward me. A horn sounded and Mr. Beaver, Philip and I led the archers to the designated ambush spot.

Peter and Justin were the last up into the gorge where the ambush was planned. As they raced up the hill, I saw Ginarrbrick fire at Flisk. He missed, but the Unicorn stumbled from trying to dodge the near miss. He fell heavily to the ground and Peter went with him. I was frozen in horror at the top of the cliff. Flisk had a hard time trying to get up and the witch's army was getting closer by the second. Oreius and Justin turned to see where Peter was and to their horror, they saw that Peter was directly in the path of the charging army.

I tried to yell, but fear caught the words in my throat. Justin flicked his two swords and a rhino joined them. Together, Oreius, Justin and the rhino charged down the gorge, trying to defend their prince. As they flew past, Peter yelled for them to stop, but they just kept charging. I could hear my heart thumping in my chest. Peter, Justin and Oreius were about to be slaughtered! I watched in horror as the rhino went down. The general of the witch's army, a minator, jumped on Oreius's back. he brought his duel swords down onto the minator and let him drop. The centaur continued to charge, drawing out his giant sword. Their strategy was working. Most of the army that had passed through was turning back the way they came to follow them. Suddenly, they were on the witch. Oreius missed on his first leap, but on the second, the witch spun her wand. I drew my breath in sharp. I tear rolled down my cheek as I looked at the stone figure of the centaur I had once called friend. At that moment, I swore that I would destroy the death wand!

The witch turned on Justin. He swung his swords at her and missed, the death wand almost caught him too, but Justin dodged and dashed back up the hill to Peter. He grabbed the back of Peter's tunic as he flew past and launched him onto the unicorn. Peter nodded in appreciation. I sighed with relief as they raced up the hill to wait with the others.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Disclaimer I do not own Narnia, Aslan, or anything C.S. Lewis created. I can only add. It's his work and I'll try my best to make it worthy of being a fanfic of the Chronicles of Narnia.

The fighting grew fierce, Peter and Justin were back to back on the ground fighting anything that dared to show it's face. Philip and I had been separated. He was off fighting with Flisk and Thunder. Suddenly, I heard another noise and I looked up to the cliff top to see the archers shooting at certain parts of the witch's army. I noticed that they were gradually working their way up the army. I looked to see what was so special about those spots and my breath caught in my throat.

There, coming straight up the witch's army, without armor, two knives flailing, rode Mariel on Aria. I watched as she rode through the witch's army and stopped beside Justin and Peter. She jumped off her horse and Aria trotted to join the other horses. Mariel and Justin exchanged blades so each had a knife in one hand and a sword in the other. Then the triangle of death continued as though the flow had never been disturbed.

Peter looked up from killing a minator and yelled to me. "There are too many of them! Get out of here! Get the girls, and get them home!"

I stopped to listen to my brother, but then I found Mr. Beaver pulling me along, away from the battle. I yanked away long enough to see that Peter was alright, but as I turned back to follow Mr. Beaver, I swear my heart stopped dead. All I could see was the death wand moving toward my brother. I pulled back and started to run for the witch.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Beaver asked. "Peter said get out of here!"

I drew my sword. "Peter's not king yet." My heart started again as I pounded down the hill toward my arch enemy. I jumped, swung and missed. She tried to stab me with her wand, but I dodged and brought my sword down on her death wand. It shattered with a blue flame. I stood staring, amazed that I had been granted my with. I had destroyed the death wand!

Crunch!

I gasped in shock as the icy cold crystal was plunged into my stomach. I stared into the pitch black eyes as they sparkled with delight. Eyes that were black as a moonless midnight, dark as sackcloth, pitiless as a pit of vipers, deadly as a small vial of potent poison. Those eyes held me pinned like a butterfly for a moment before the sparkle turned to steel. Those eyes suddenly released me and let me fall as she tugged the wand out of my stomach. The broken crystal had severed something near my back bone, if not my back bone itself. I hit the ground with a thud and lay still, my hand over my wound. I looked at the witch. She just let her eyes bore into my mind. The words she had whispered in my ear at the meeting with Aslan echoed in my brain.

"You have failed. He is dead because of you. Now nothing, not even your death can free you from this debt. You are guilty forever because of what you have done. Nothing will stop me now. NOTHING! You are MINE!"

Triumph shown from her black eyes. Then she simply turned and walked away, throwing her wand away, she grabbed my sword and headed toward Peter. Everything started to go black. My body seared with pain. It was as if a fire had been lit inside me and it radiated from the hole in my body where the wand had been. I couldn't scream. I couldn't breathe! I tried to keep my eyes open, but the concentration of keeping myself from giving into the pain forced them shut.

I lay motionless, gasping for breath. I knew I would not last long. But I also knew that this was my punishment for giving in to the witch, for believing her, for acting like a brat. For going to the witch even when my always truthful sister Lucy told me that she was a witch. For letting Justin follow me to his almost certain death. For turning Tumnus in to the witch. For telling the witch information that only helped in the killing of hundreds of Narnians. For giving the witch information that did not save the fox's life after all. For wanting my brother dead. For not caring about anyone but my self. And the greatest of all; for being a traitor to my own family and being the reason Aslan had to die.

These were my crimes and I deserved the punishment 10,000 times over. So I simply stopped trying. I stopped trying to hold the blood in. I stopped trying to breathe. I stopped trying to keep the pain out. I stopped trying to live. The darkness enveloped me and I gave up. Death was welcome. At least I would not have to live with my guilt.

But my wish of death was not to be. The Death Wand had been shattered and so were my hopes of guiltlessness when I felt Lucy's cordial between my lips. The pain disappeared. I coughed and spluttered and finally sat up to see everyone sitting around me; Justin, Mariel, Peter, Susan and Lucy. Tears were streaming down Peter's face as he pulled me into a huge bear hug.

"When are you ever going to do as you're told?" He asked.

Everyone else joined in. When they finally let me go, I saw that Aslan was standing beside us. I gaped in awe. He simply smiled at me and turned to a statue. To my amazement, he simply breathed on it and it came back to life! Lucy took the hint and took off with her cordial for the wounded.

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Justin and Mariel walked down the center isle of the great hall of Cair Paravel. They were dressed almost totally in green and silver. When they reached the four thrones, they split and stood on either side of the thrones. Together, my siblings and I walked down that same isle with Aslan between us. When we reached our thrones, we turned and faced the gathered crowd. I could not help but smile. The fox was there, as well as the beavers. Oreius and Mr. Tumnus too! Aslan had been to the witch's castle and freed the statues there. While I was giving up on life, he had killed the witch. She was gone and I could be happy. Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers came forward bearing the crowns between them. As Aslan said each name, Tumnus took that person's crown and set it gently on their head.

"To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy that Valiant. To the great western woods, the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to the clear northern skies, King Peter the Magnificent. Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen. May our wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens."

When Aslan finished his speech, the entire assembly burst into cheers. I smiled, but I could not help but think about how much I did not deserve this. I was a criminal being made king. I longed to get away and take my crown off. But the ceremony was not over. Aslan silenced the crowd with a shake of his mane.

"Guardians of Narnia, come forth." Justin and Mariel stepped forward. "Son of Adam, Daughter of Eve; protect the four who defeat the deceived. You will stay or leave at will, but only after your duty is fulfilled. Will you stay, or will you return to your own homes? Justin and Mariel looked at each other. There was no doubt in their decision. I smiled broadly as Justin spoke for them both.

"We stay to serve you." Aslan smiled and nudged Justin with His nose. Justin turned and knelt before Mariel.

I could hardly believe the words coming out of Justin's mouth! Finally, he was confessing his love!

"Mariel, I have loved you for as long as I can remember. It was the reason for my strange behavior over the last couple of weeks, and now the reason that I ask you to marry me." Justin pulled out a silver ring with an emerald set into the top. Their names were engraved on the inside.

My fists clenched as I waited for Mariel's reply. I prayed that it would be good. I had nothing to fear.

"Justin, I would love nothing better, because I love you too."

The joy on Justin's face seemed to shine out. Gently, he took her left hand and slipped the ring on her third finger. The crowd cheered and we clapped.

Once again, Aslan shook his mane and the crowd fell silent. "Brothers and sisters of Narnia, I present to you, the new guardians of Narnia, and now the first couple to be united under the reign of the four thrones. Kneel Justin and Mariel."

I looked at Peter, Susan and Lucy. They were all grinning from ear to ear and gripping the arms of their thrones with delight.

Together, Justin and Mariel knelt before the Great Lion. Slowly, he placed his paw on their shoulders. "Will you, Justin, take Mariel to be your wife?"

"Yes, I do." Justin said proudly.

"And will you, Mariel, take Justin to be your husband?"

"Yes I do." she answered happily.

"then I pronounce you man and wife. May your union never end, for when it does, the end of Narnia and the world shall come. You have chosen to stay and be the guardians of this land. And so you will guard it, but not for one lifetime only, but for centauries beyond count, until I bring this world to an end."

When he had finished, two dryads came forward with two circlets of silver and emeralds that twined like leaves and vines, and they placed them on Justin and Mariel's heads.

"And to the end of the world, I present Justin and Mariel, the Brave and Loyal." Aslan finished.

This time the crown truly erupted into cheers. Justin and Mariel rose and looked at each other.

"I will love you forever, Mariel, since it seems that is exactly how much time we will have." Justin said as he took both Mariel's hands in his.

"I'm glad, because I can't imagine not loving you forever," Mariel said and smiled.

Justin did not reply. I smiled with joy for my friends as he took her in his arms and kissed her.

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As soon as the coronation was over, I ran for the cliff tops outside Cair Paravel. I threw my crown on the sand and stared out to sea. I breathed deeply of the cool sea air. I shook myself to try to convince myself that this was actually happening to me. Some how, I just could not believe it. I told my self over and over again that I was forgiven, but it simply would not stick! The guilt still perused me. I could not tear myself away from the nagging feeling that what I had done, destroyed the Death Wand and all, was simply not enough for my atonement. I looked out to the shore and saw Aslan walking along it. he turned and looked up at me. I could see the golden eyes clearly as they bored into my soul. They were begging me to accept forgiveness, to simply trust him.

I tied so hard to trust him. I looked back at him and mouthed the word "how?" I simply did not know how to trust or believe any more. If I was to be the Just, I had to be able to trust and believe my savior. He looked at me sorrowfully.

"I will come back soon and then I will teach you how to trust." I could hear his words in my head. Then to my amazement, he vanished!

"But," I thought, "When do you call soon?"

"I call all times soon…"

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Now you have heard my story. And now, here I am, 5 years later, at the age of 17, I am still waiting for Aslan to come back and teaching me to trust and believe. But I know he will come. I have seen him once a year since that day on the cliffs, always from a distance. I always ask if that day is the day, and he always responds with…

"Soon, my son."

I know he will come. If he came today I would not be surprised. I have learned to be a just king, but my melancholy state sometimes depresses my siblings and the guardians. Justin and Mariel are now 22 and perfectly happy. They seem to see the Great Lion a lot, for they tell me all the things he has told them.

Now, I sit on the same cliff tops that I sat on when I last saw Aslan. He comes back once every year, on the anniversary of out coronation to this very spot. Perhaps today will be the day I see him and he will teach me how to believe and trust in him.

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Epilogue

Only a few days ago, I thought I had finished my confession, now I find myself writing again. My guilt from all those years ago has not yet left me, but I can say with joy that the Great Lion did come to me that day. But he did not teach me the way I suspected. I shall describe it in full.

I sat on the cliffs waiting. As the last rays of sunlight drifted over the sea, I heard a noise behind me. Thinking it to be Aslan, I turned quickly, which probably saved my life. An arrow whizzed by my head. I ducked quickly as 10 more arrows zipped out of no where. I just caught a glimpse of a minator's horns before all 10 arrows found me. Two in each arm, two in each leg, and two in the back. I fell heavily on my face to the sand. I did not scream or yell, I merely sighed. It was about time my punishment for my actions to catch up with me. I supposed that it was time for me to go and I was fine with it. I would be free from the guilt once and for all.

Suddenly, hundreds of arrows were zipping around me, never hitting me though. I didn't even care anymore. The wounds in my back, legs and arms were incredibly painful, and I could only moan, but I was at peace with it. I had actually dreamed of this moment when I would be freed from my looming guilt with desire!

But once again, it was not to be. One moment, I was watching arrows falling around me, the next I felt an arrow jerked out of my leg. I cried out in pain, but I held still. My rescuer bent over me.

"Can you walk?" It was Mariel.

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "No, of course I cant walk. Now get out of here. This is my punishment. Leave before you are killed for nothing!"

Mariel stopped trying to pull me up. "Nothing?! I am your guardian and I will protect you with my life!"

The arrows continued to reign down, but Mariel ignored them. "I will not leave you here, but Justin is dealing with your attackers and I cannot carry you!"

"Then go," I said. "Let me die. I deserve it."

Mariel looked at me in horror. "Never! Aslan help me, I will never just let you die!"

"And neither will I." Said a deep voice from beside me. Mariel drew her breath in sharp. "I already paid that price, now will you pay it again?"

"Aslan." I breathed.

"Once I carried you out of the witch's camp. Now I will carry you back to Cair Paravel."

"Leave me, lord, I want to die." I said through clenched teeth. I was being soaked in my own blood. It was pooling around me now. The arrows had stopped by now and Justin ran up.

"Justin, get him onto my back." Aslan commanded.

Justin nodded and draped me across the lion's back. Mariel and Justin watched as Aslan carried me off back to Cair Paravel.

Once I was in a bed and my wounds had been heeled, thanks to my sister's cordial, I turned to Aslan. "Why wont you let me end my suffering?"

"Because, I already suffered for you. When you learn to trust me, you will suffer no more."

"I want to trust you, Aslan, but I do not know how."

"It will take long, but I will stay until you learn, my son."

"Thank you, Aslan."

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Now, I have learned to trust my king. It really didn't take long, since I was really learning those 5 years after the coronation. Now, he is my savior and my friend. Long live Aslan.

Signed, King Edmund the Just


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